“It was THE place to go for a gay date!” – Remembering SPQR

YOUR EX

July 12, 2024

Ponsonby Road institution SPQR has gone into liquidation.

Opened in 1992, Ponsonby Road restaurant SPQR has ceased trading today and gone into liquidation.

The restaurant’s iconic outdoor tables lining the Ponsonby footpath had been a Mecca for those wanting to be seen for over thirty years.

The restaurant opened in 1992, the same year as the Hero Parade began, and was soon seen as a haven for the queer community. SPQR went on to host many parties with drag shows and a big queer presence.

Two years later, drag-themed gay bar Surrender Dorothy opened on the opposite side of Ponsonby Road and three years later Urge Bar opened on the Ponsonby end of Karangahape Road, joining Staircase nightclub, cementing Ponsonby’s gay village status.

“SPQR really was the first restaurant I can think of where you could go on a date with a same-sex partner and no one would bat an eyelash!” Community stalwart Steven Oates tells YOUR EX.

“It was the place to go for a gay date! A lot of the staff were gay and a huge part of the restaurant’s success was the outrageous characters who waited the tables!”